Working at Huntin’ Fool, I get the pleasure of being a part of some very special phone calls, from our License App team drawing members tags that are less than 1% odds to guys booking dream hunts that they have saved up for for years. On a lot of these calls, I hear the same thing, “Well, I have to get in shape now.” Think about it, wouldn’t it be way easier to already be in shape and continue to train and push yourself to get ready for your hunt you have been waiting years for? Maybe it’s not a hunt you waited years for, maybe it’s a hunt that a buddy just invited you on last minute or a hunt that your wife surprised you with. Now what? You have no time to prepare for it. Nothing is worse than being on a hunt and being out of shape, struggling each and every day to catch your breath and get to the top of a mountain. I have been there, believe me.
I’m not saying you have to go to the gym each day, slap on multiple plates, and look like a body builder. However, I am saying you need to try to get out multiple times a week and get the blood pumping. Bike rides, long walks, good hikes, gym time, anything that gets the ticker ticking. I have never been a guy who really enjoyed working out until I started hunting out west and wanting more out of my hunts. Hunting has pushed me to enjoy working out and trying to better myself. I have also noticed that working out and trying to better my physical ability has carried over into other aspects of my life. I think you will notice it as well. Being more focused at work and being able to accomplish more each day than you did before is very uplifting and satisfying. In a weird way, wanting to be a better hunter and experience more on my hunts has helped me in way more ways than I could have ever imagined.
I know we all have different goals in life and on our hunts. Some of us judge the hunt based off of harvest and others the experience. It doesn’t matter if you’re chasing a thunder chicken on the east coast in ag fields or high basin bucks in Colorado, we can all agree that no matter what we think, we have the time to try and better ourselves each and every day. Maybe it’s just 30 minutes or 1 hour, we have the time, and all of it helps. I promise it gets easier as it goes. You will notice after a few weeks of taking a little time for yourself that it starts to just become a habit.
Don’t sit around waiting for the good news that you finally drew a tag or you saved up enough money to purchase your dream hunt and then try and push yourself to get in the best shape you can in a short few months or weeks. Start now and you won’t regret it.
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